Kino (23 page)

Cut to an imposing pirate ship anchored in a nearby inlet, where Captain Darius Silko and his motley crew of sea dogs are celebrating on the beach, passing rum and grilled meat between them, climbing on trees and roughhousing drunkenly in the turquoise surf.

Mina didn't recognize the actors, but she drew a sharp breath at the first close-up of dashing Captain Silko: he shared a striking resemblance to the clean-shaven sailor she had just kissed on the pier. There he was, in the movie: as if he were winking at her.

Mina found herself liking the movie, and she settled back into the couch. She pulled a blanket over herself and poured more whiskey, happy to be just where she was, watching this movie. Sam had liked watching it when it came on late night cable.

The night before the wedding, under the light of a full moon, the pirates raided St. Lupe. While his men are breaking into the bank, Captain Silko meets Bonnie on a rooftop, where she is contemplating suicide. He knocks her unconscious and orders his men to leave their loot behind and take her instead. “For ransom,” he says–but it is obvious that he has fallen in love.

Mina woke up with the credits rolling.

“It does get ridiculous,” a familiar voice came out of the dark, heavy with a German accent. “Almost incoherent. They positively butchered the second act.”

Mina jumped, knocking her drink, which had been balanced precariously on the cushion next to her, onto the floor, where it joined the dried puddles of Penny's spit. The glass bounced unharmed off the thick rug. In the corner armchair where Chester had cooked up Penny's injection, the man with the red leather jacket was eating what was left of Mina's ham sandwich.

“I am sorry if I startled you. Tobias Schnark. Remember me? Don't get up.”

“Jesus motherfucking Christ,” Mina said. She was wearing nothing but a T-shirt and pulled up the blanket to cover herself. “You scared the living shit out of me. What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in here? This can't be your jurisdiction.”

“German cultural heritage doesn't know any borders. Granted, my wing of the BKA does not enjoy the best relations with its American counterparts. My department was established without knowledge of the Allied Oversight Committee and later merged with the
Bundesnachrichtendienst
–after all, many of the items in question had been removed by the Allies themselves, and we could not act until their retrieval became politically expedient.”

Mina shook her head. “I don't care. I want you to tell me why you broke into this house. And why I shouldn't call the police right now.”

“A little more attention to the details might have helped. Especially when it comes to my instructions.”

He took another bite of Mina's sandwich.

“Excuse me?”

“Didn't I warn you about that film professor? You're a little naïve for your age, no? Haven't seen much of the world yet?”

“Look here, I've about had it with all the cloak-and-dagger bullshit. Are you actually wearing gloves?”

“Shhh.” Herr Schnark put his gloved finger to his lips and cocked his head as if to listen. And yes: over the drone of the city in the distance, there was the very distinct noise of tires on gravel. Somebody was coming up the driveway.

Mina looked at Schnark. He was already on his feet. Car doors slammed outside.

“Get up. Now. We've got to hide,” Schnark said.

Mina didn't particularly trust this guy, but there was no point arguing now. “The backyard?” she said. She didn't know the house very well.

Schnark nodded. “Let's go.”

They'd just made it through the sliding door to the back patio when they heard muffled voices from the front of the house. Somebody was already inside. The air had cooled off and Mina wished she was wearing more than an oversized T-shirt.

They rounded the pool, the water thick with algae, and hid behind an overgrown rosebush. The garden was walled-in by hedges, and the only escape routes led through or around the house.

“Down,” Schnark commanded, and Mina didn't hesitate. She could see the shine of flashlights teetering on the living room curtains, then someone flipped on a light switch. Shadows of what looked like two men were searching the living room. Then they pulled back the curtain.

Mina recognized them immediately.

“The men who chased me through Berlin!”

Unbelievable.

“They're agents,” Schnark whispered. “Quiet,
bitte
.”

Agents. That's what Sam had said. She hadn't believed him.

They could see the two men confer, then they disappeared again. One by one, lights turned on all over the house.

“What are they looking for?” Mina asked, but she already knew: they were looking for her.

“There are two cars parked out front, so they know we're hiding somewhere,” Schnark said. “Does this path lead around the house? Let's bolt.”

“I'm not dressed,” Mina protested.

“But you have the journal, right?”

Oh fuck.

Mina pointed at the house. “It's on the table.”

They could see the shadow of one of the men upstairs, searching the master bedroom.

“
Gottverdammte Scheisse
,” Schnark cursed.

From inside his jacket, he pulled out a stubby revolver and lifted it up to his face like James Bond. “Stay here. I'll take care of it. Go start your car.” He gave her a grim face, an expression that looked like he'd learned it from the movies.

Mina took the elbow of his raised arm and gently pulled it down. “Are you crazy? You are going to kill someone over that old journal? Put the gun away.”

Schnark was shaking his head, but now Mina made the grim face. “I'll take care of this.” Before he could stop her, she stepped out behind the rosebush and walked into the living room. “Excuse me!” she hollered. “Men who broke into my grandmother's house? Can I speak to you?”

The men came rumbling down the staircase and Mina's bluster gave way to doubt immediately. In Berlin, Mina had only seen them from a distance. Up close, they looked just as beefy but more alert than she had suspected, with mean eyes and tough jaws. Apparently, they were agents of some sort. They had followed her from Germany to California and broken into her grandmother's house. And if Schnark was right and a gun was the only way to deal with them, it was too late.

“What are you doing here?” Mina repeated. “This is my grandmother's house, and if I don't get an answer immediately, I will call the police.”

“I wouldn't do that,” the older agent said. “It's really not necessary. We just want to ask you a few questions.”

“Is there anyone else here?” the other agent asked. He had a scar across his right cheek that looked like he had gotten knifed a long time ago. He peeked through the curtains into the garden.

That's when Mina's eyes betrayed her. Before she knew what was happening, she'd glanced at the mess on Penny's coffee table for the journal–there it was, next to a heap of puzzle pieces, half obscured by the whiskey jug–but the agent with the scar had noticed her look and seen the spiral notebook.

“Now, what is this?” he said. He wiped a few stray pills off the table and picked up the journal. “Certainly looks interesting.”

The other agent turned away from the curtains.

“Mr. K is going to like this.”

Watching them leaf through the pages filled with Kino's handwriting made Mina furious. “The journal is mine,” she said. “Hand it to me right now.”

“I tell you what,” the older agent said. “Why don't you come to our office, and we can discuss all of this. It's only a short ride away.”

“And if I don't want to?”

“We're not asking. Don't make this any harder than it has to be.”

He reached for her elbow, but Mina stepped away and picked up Penny's telephone from the table. She waved the handset like a weapon. “I'm not going anywhere with you. Give me the notebook and leave this property right now.”

She dialed 911.

“Hey!” The agent with the scar swiftly swiped the phone from her hands, dropped it on the carpet, and crushed it beneath the heel of his elegant Italian shoe.

Mina had to process this. They had broken her grandmother's phone. Once people started breaking things, the situation could escalate quickly. Where was Schnark? Why was Mina always wrong?

“What do you want?” she said again.

The older agent slid the journal into a black briefcase. “Like I said–we'd like you to come to the office with us.” He reached for her arm again, and this time Mina was frightened enough to let him.

“Would you mind if I put on some clothes?”

“Of course.” He motioned for the agent with the scar to follow Mina upstairs. She led him to the guest bedroom, where she kept her bag. “Do you mind?” she said and closed the door in his face. She put on the jeans and boots she had bought in Berlin.

“Hurry up,” the agent with the scar said through the door.

“One second!” she said. The room's only window opened over the garden–she waved but couldn't see if Schnark was still in the darkness below. The pool, glowing green, was close to the house. If she had to, she could probably–

The agent knocked on the door. “We have to go now.”

There was a commotion downstairs–a knock and a crash, glass splintering, a lamp maybe. Mina locked the door. The agent started banging on it immediately. She opened the window. Perhaps the pool wasn't as close as it seemed. There was no safe way to climb down. The banging on the door continued. She couldn't hear any more noise from downstairs. Mina removed the screen from the window and dropped it on the patio.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Then, a crash that shook the door frame.

Okay
, Mina thought.
I can do this
.

She climbed up on the sill, perched for a moment in her new boots and calculated the distance. Another crash against the door, her muscles tensed, and Mina jumped.

Foul water rushed up her nostrils, and the weight of her wet clothes pulled her down. A stroke up, a stroke over, and she heaved herself onto the grass, dripping wet hair in her eyes. She'd done it! Angry yelling from above: the agent had broken into the room and shouted at her from the window.

A hand offered to pull her up. Mina reached for it and came to her feet. It was Schnark. Behind him in the living room, Mina could make out the legs of the older agent, prone on the floor.

Schnark saw her fearful look. “Cocked him,” he said, miming with the butt of his revolver. “Got the journal back, too,” he said, nodding to the agent's briefcase in his hand. “It's about time you listened to me, wouldn't you agree?”

Mina rolled her eyes at him, but she was flush with excitement from the jump. She'd done that, she'd really done that and gotten away with it. They took the path around the house, Mina's boots splashing with every step. Why did she have to get dressed
before
she jumped? They could hear the other agent rumbling down the staircase.

Three cars in the driveway: Mina's Thunderbird, a rental VW, and a large black SUV.

“I drive,” Schnark said. Mina tossed him her keys and he and started up the Thunderbird.

She leapt into the convertible without opening the door. It was a cool move, but she knocked her knee on the glove compartment. The front door opened and Mina could see the agent with the scar silhouetted against the light.

Bang! Bang!

Schnark shot his gun into the air. The agent leapt back into the house. Schnark laughed and took aim at the SUV. He fired three more shots before he popped a tire. They squealed backwards out of the driveway, Schnark rammed the Thunderbird into first gear, and they were gone.

Chapter 14

Shaking with exhilaration, Mina laughed at her own courage. She was dripping dirty pool water all over the car seat. Schnark drove fast, checking the rearview mirrors constantly. Without taking his eyes off the road, he put his gun into the glove compartment and reached for the agent's briefcase, which he'd thrown in the space behind Mina's seat.

“Go ahead. Open it,” he said. “The journal's in there.”

“Those guys were going to kidnap me,” Mina said. She untied her boots and wiggled out of her wet jeans, letting them dry in the warm night air. Her shirt was sticking to her chest. Schnark didn't seem to be interested in checking her out and kept his eyes on the road. She found Kino's notebook in the briefcase's side pocket. “Got it.”

Schnark gave her a thumbs-up. “Well done,” he said. “The BKA is proud of you.”

“Well,” Mina said. “I'm not sure if I like the BKA any better than those guys. At least they didn't wave any guns around.”

“Yeah.” His grim face again. “They were too smart to pull theirs.”

“Who are they?”

“From what I have been able to ascertain, they belong to a secret branch overseen by a joint board of the six major film studios and the US government. These are the guys who take care of the studios' dirty work. Mainly, they do paperwork, copyright enforcement, a well-timed leak to the press or the cops, that sort of thing. A little bit of intimidation here and there. Snooping. But they won't shy away from violence, and if it's necessary, they'll take someone out. There have always been rumors. Some people think it goes way back. There's a theory they framed Fatty Arbuckle. Got rid of Marilyn when the time came.”

“They're with the government?”

“It's a blurry line these days. As you may know, your Vice President has an inordinate fondness for private contractors, and this administration is desperate to make inroads into liberal Hollywood.”

“Are you saying they're like Blackwater?”

Schnark didn't answer. Mina wanted to laugh, tell him that he'd watched too many movies, but her fear had been real. Whoever they were, these men had attempted to kidnap her. She had really jumped out of a window into a swimming pool while they were beating down the door. There'd been gunfire. Mina was past laughing. She realized she'd been reflexively checking the rear view mirror to see if they were being followed.